The Dissolution of Dynasties
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Famous children have a lot to deal with, including the media. What happens when one little tabloid article reveals a secret about two of the most famous wizards at Hogwarts? Scorpius/Albus slash. Character death.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Dissolution of Dynasties **_

"I don't understand why I have to go have lunch with Grandfather," Scorpius griped.

"Don't start," Draco said. "He likes spending time with you."

"No he doesn't. He likes shoving pureblood ideology down my throat. You don't like him yourself, Dad. Why do I have to put up with him?"

"Because he's your grandfather," Draco sighed. "Please, just…try to control your temper. And don't tell him anything that would give him a heart attack."

Scorpius chuckled. "Fine. But you owe me."

"I'm sitting through the interview with you later, aren't I? I'd say we're even…"

Rolling his eyes, Scorpius grabbed his scarf and Disapparated.

* * *

It worked for about half an hour. Scorpius had held his tongue for the most part, but the third time the words "filthy half bloods" left his grandfather's mouth, he snapped a bit. "Could we please talk about something else?"

Lucius sat back in his chair smirking. "Draco's been far too lenient with the company you keep, I can tell. But, yes, we can change the subject. What do you plan on doing this summer? I _am_ partially funding your activities; I should be privy to the details."

"Funding it? I'm getting my inheritance next week. It's rightfully mine. It's not like you're paying for my expenses out of pocket…."

"Just tell me what you're doing," Lucius huffed.

"I'm traveling. I'll be in France, Switzerland, Germany, Ukraine…. Those are just ideas for now. I'll have an official list by Friday."

"I see. Well, maybe a bit of time traveling will clear your head of all these…er…bad influences. Influences like Albus Potter," he said, voice laced with contempt.

"Please don't start, Grandfather. Just because you don't like his father is no reason to talk badly about him."

"Well when you get back, your grandmother and I expect you to spend some more time with us—allow us to introduce you to some _civilized _company."

Scorpius just smiled. _No chance…_ he thought.

* * *

It was packed at the Burrow. Even in the new and improved house the Grandparents Weasley had bought, having all of the family in made it a bit cramped. This was the reason Albus Potter was currently lying on a longboard by the window in Grandpa Weasley's shed, listening to the old Wireless. There was one in the house, but Grandma Weasley was forcing the family to listen to one of her old school singers. Albus gave the speaker another prod with his wand to clear the reception, as the absolutely irritating voice of Roland Skeeter (son of Rita Skeeter) came through.

"Witches, Wizards, Warlocks and everyone in between, welcome to The Weekly Rundown! I'm your host, Roland Skeeter, and today we have an extra special treat for all of you! Not only are we previewing the new music by Hieroglyphs and Hauntings, but we have an interview with the famous Scorpius Malfoy! Here he is now, with his father Draco. How are you both today?"

"Very well, thanks," Scorpius said.

"Great!" Roland yelped. "So, Scorpius, how does it feel to be one of the most famous wizards in Britain? I mean, you're a household name because of your work with your father's charity. Does that change the way your classmates view you at all?"

"Not at all," Scorpius chuckled. "I'm still their friend; I don't act any different. A lot of times they ask if they can help out with the charity as well, but other than that, I'm just the guy who's crap at Transfiguration."

Roland laughed. "Not your best subject, eh?"

"Not by a long shot."

"What is?"

"I'm good with Charms and Potions."

"Starting your final year in two months, right?"

"That's right."

"You must be very proud of your son, Draco."

"Extremely," Draco said fondly.

In the dusty shade of the shed, Albus smiled. He'd only met Mr. Malfoy once, when the man had come to the school to watch a Quidditch match, but from that one visit he knew that "proud" didn't go far enough to describe how he felt about Scorpius. Albus gave the Wireless a few violent jabs as it went fuzzy again, before settling in to listen again.

"So, you're one of the most eligible bachelors in the wizarding world. Do you and the Potter boys have a rivalry going?"

Scorpius chuckled nervously, and Albus could practically see him turning red. "No, there's no rivalry. Albus and I are…er…friends. No competition except on the Quidditch field."

"So the Malfoy-Potter hatchet has been buried?"

"Yes," Draco answered for both of them.

"Is that why, sources tell me, Grandfather Lucius Malfoy isn't too happy with you right now?"

One of the, Albus didn't know which, shifted in their seat. There was quiet, and for a moment Albus thought he'd lost the transmission. Then, Scorpius spoke again.

"My grandfather is from a different period. His opinions are his own, but he enjoys having me around even though mine tend to differ. He's invited me to stay with him and my grandmother for a bit before the year starts."

"So is that what you'll be doing this summer?"

"Actually I'll be traveling. Don't quite know where yet, but I decided to get it out of my system before I have to be an adult and look for a job."

Roland chuckled. "Well best of luck on your travels, and your last year of school. Thank you both for being with us today. Here's the new Hieroglyphs and Hauntings song, "Primordial". We'll be back after a short break."

Albus turned the Wireless off as a shadow blocked the light coming in from the shed door.

"There you are!" Dominique said. "We've been looking all over for you. Come on, we're going to play Quidditch in the field. Teddy said he'd ref for us!"

"I'm coming."

* * *

"Oi! There's an owl at the window," Hugo said.

Harry let the bird in and gave it a treat. Taking the letter, he said, "Ahh! I thought I recognized him. It's for you, Albus. From Scorpius."

"Merlin, again?" James said. "He's written, what? Twice a day since we've been here? He acts like he's in love with you, Al!"

Albus took the letter and didn't turn around to face the group until he was sure his blush had gone away. "He wants to meet up for lunch tomorrow. Can I go, Dad?"

"I guess," Harry said, shrugging. "As long as it's all right with your mother."

"It's fine. Maybe they'll get all of their stories out of their systems and save their owls a few trips."

Albus blushed again, but said nothing. Pocketing the letter, he walked back to the group to join the game of Exploding Snap.

_**LbN: Send reviews, please and thank you! **_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Dissolution of Dynasties**

Albus tossed the fifth shirt onto the bed, frustrated. He had no idea why he always got so nervous around Scorpius. It wasn't like this was their first, second, or even third date. He pulled a blue shirt on and started folding the discarded clothes.

"Is this a date?"

Albus jumped about a mile. "Oh, hey James."

"Is this a date?" his brother repeated, sitting on the bed.

"What gave me away? The wardrobe changes?" Albus chuckled.

"That and the fact that you were moaning Malfoy's name in your sleep," James said, rolling his eyes. "I'll send you my therapy bills."

Albus turned red and started searching for his wallet. "Go away," he said.

"Sure."

When James was about halfway down the stairs, Albus realized that he'd made a grave error in judgment. He should've kept talking to James until he was ready to leave. Now he was going to have to play "Dodge the Parents" to get to lunch on time. "They're WHAT?" he heard from downstairs. Finding his wallet in the night table drawer, he grabbed his broom and snuck out through the window.

* * *

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," Scorpius said, smiling and hugging Albus.

"Shut it," Albus laughed. "I won't have the luxury of Apparating for another week. I had to endure a thirty minute broom ride. Taking the summer test was the worst decision ever."

"Hey, at least you're not splinching yourself in front of everyone like I did," Scorpius said as they sat down to eat.

"True. Er…I'll have a Butterbeer," he told the waiter. "So…got some news."

"What's that?"

"My parents know about us."

Scorpius snorted the whipped cream on his hot chocolate up his nose. "I thought we were waiting until after the year started to tell them?"

"That was the plan, but my brother has a big mouth."

"How'd he find out?"

"I…er…." Albus hated the fact that he blushed so easily. He ran a hand through his hair and kept mum until after the waiter had dropped off his drink and taken their orders.

Once he'd left, Scorpius grinned and asked, "Were you sleep talking again?"

"Yeah…"

Scorpius laughed. "Well, that's one way to do it, I suppose."

"You're not mad are you?"

"Of course not. I do need to talk to you about something though."

"Uh oh."

"It's nothing bad." Scorpius paused, trying to think of how to best bring up the topic. A stray cat sauntered by and brushed against his leg. He gave it a scrap of bread to buy time. "Look, I'm taking off for an entire month, but I don't want to go alone…."

"Scorp…"

"I know you said you didn't want to, but I thought, maybe you'd changed your mind a little? Or at least, are less against it now than before?"

"I just…like it where I am. Plus, you're supposed to be leaving in three days and I can't."

"So I'll wait until you've passed your test. Please? I really can't bear the thought of not seeing you for an entire month. Besides, it's not even like you'll have to lie to your parents or anything. You can totally tell them that your gorgeous boyfriend is whisking you away for a bit."

"Where did you have in mind?" Albus asked, still not ready to give in. He eyed the cat, who was now purring next to his leg. It seemed to think they'd keep feeding it if it looked pitiful enough.

"I don't know. I gave Grandfather a list of places, but I just pulled them out of my arse. Where do you want to go?" Scorpius saw Albus's eyes light up, and knew he'd almost won. "We can plan the trip together. It'll be fun!"

Albus smiled. "I'll talk to my dad tonight."

Scorpius grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah. I suppose I can't leave you to your own devices for an entire month," Albus said, smirking. "Who knows what you'd get into without me there to supervise…."

Laughing, Scorpius took Albus's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "We should start planning then. If you're going to swing the plan by your dad, we should actually have a plan…."

* * *

The two wizards got a lot planned during lunch, deciding on Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Greece as their main stops. Deciding to vacate to Scorpius's house to hammer out the details was definitely counterproductive, however, seeing as it only took them 23 seconds to realize they were not at Hogwarts. The threat of nosy first years eliminated, the trip planning quickly turned into a snogging session.

Albus was in the middle of giving Scorpius his fifth hickey when he heard something. "What was that?"

"Your leftover paranoia from having to hide while we do this at school," Scorpius panted. "I didn't hear anything."

"Scorpius, did you remember to—whoa!" Draco Malfoy had been reading the Prophet as he walked, and looked up just in time to see a half naked Albus Potter bolting into the bathroom.

"I don't feel the need to explain myself," Scorpius said with as much aplomb as he could muster, having just flipped off the bed in shock.

"No indeed, I have eyes," Draco said. "Close, and lock, the door next time. Nice to see you again, Albus!" he called.

"You two, Mr. Malfoy," Albus said, sounding mortified.

* * *

Albus wasn't quite over the incident when he walked into his grandparents' house later, so he was hoping to quietly slip up to his room and avoid talking to anyone for a while. No such luck….

"Al?"

"Hi Dad."

"Anything you er…wanna talk about?"

"Yes, James was telling the truth. I'm dating Scorpius Malfoy," Albus said, deciding to get the conversation over with as soon as possible. "We're going on a trip together."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. He's been planning to travel for a while now, and he asked me to come along. Just a few different countries. We'll be gone a month." He figured telling his dad, rather than asking, was the more adult thing to do.

"Were you planning on running that past your mother and me?"

"I am right now," Albus said, giving his dad what he hoped was a winning smile.

"How long have you been seeing him?"

"Er…look, you can't be mad. We were going to tell you guys soon."

Harry quirked an eyebrow at him.

"We've been dating for a year now."

"A YEAR?"

"I knew you'd take it like this," Albus said morosely. He sat his broom on the rack and grabbed a glass from the counter. He stopped when his dad squeezed his shoulder.

"I'm…just surprised is all. I'm not mad about you dating him. I just…wish you'd told us. And, since you've obviously decided to go off with him on a…prolonged date…I think we should talk about…" his dad took a deep breath, obviously steeling himself to continue. "We should talk about…er…responsibility and…"

"Dad!" Albus said, realizing where this conversation was going. "We've already talked about…stuff like this…."

"You've never been on a month long trip with a…significant other before."

"It's okay. I remember everything you've ever told me."

"Everything?" the older Potter asked, smirking. "All right, fine. We'll talk your mother into this trip of yours over dinner."

"Thanks Dad," Albus smiled. Taking his glass of water, he made his way to his room. At the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and turned back to the kitchen. "Dad? On the way home, I stopped to get a new travel cloak. There was a reporter there who wouldn't stop bothering me…It's not a big deal, but…"

"I'll talk to the Prophet," Harry said. He'd never been a fan of the way the Prophet stalked his kids, but their obsession with his youngest son was really starting to get out of hand.

"Cheers."


	3. Chapter 3

**The Dissolution of Dynasties**

The trip had been a great experience so far, even when they'd gotten lost in Germany for a night. Scorpius had indulged in one "I-told-you-so," but mostly he was just enjoying his time with Albus.

Albus threw his travel bag over his shoulder and checked to make sure he had his wallet. "You ready?" he asked Scorpius. They were headed to Greece that day for what was, unfortunately, their last stop of the trip.

"Now I am," Scorpius said, pulling on his jacket. "Wait, I think that's the Prophet owl." He went to the window to let the bird in. After paying it, he unfolded the paper slightly to look at the headlines.

"What's wrong?" Albus asked, for Scorpius had paused in mid step after looking at the paper. His boyfriend was now staring down at it with a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and a little fear.

"Er…didn't you say your dad went and talked to the Prophet, Witch Weekly, and Wizard's Monthly about stalking us?"

"Yeah," Albus said nervously. "Why?"

"I don't think they listened," Scropius answered. He turned the paper around so Albus could see it.

In bold lettering, Albus read the title of that day's paper. "Dissolution of Dynasties: The Love Affair of Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. What the hell?" Albus yelped. He sat down on the bed to read the article, Scorpius at his side.

_**A sad day for the ladies of Hogwarts, it appears that the two most famous seventh year boys at the school have been taken off the market—by each other! Scorpius Malfoy, famous for his work with his father's charity The Young Wizard's Art Association, is dating Albus Potter, the youngest son of Harry Potter. It seems as though the Malfoy legacy of only dating genealogically proven purebloods has come to an end. We can exclusively reveal that they have been dating for some time now, and that they are currently in Europe enjoying their summer holiday before heading back to school. After spending time in Belgium, Germany, and Italy, the couple also plans to make a stop in Greece.**_

_**Though this comes as a surprise to all of us, it perhaps explains why Harry Potter has always been so careful to keep his children out of the spotlight. Is he perhaps ashamed of his son's condition? Is he just trying to protect the boy? Only he knows for sure. One thing is certain: the connection of these two families signals the official end of an era. The time when there was a distinction between pureblood and halfbood, or Muggle-born, is over. **_

"Condition?" Scorpius said, scandalized.

Albus was close to hyperventilating.

"Hey," Scorpius said softly. "It's okay, calm down. At least they broke the story after we told our parents," he chuckled.

"They had to," Albus said, having regained control of himself a bit. "Look at the pictures."

Scorpius did, and he saw what Albus meant. The Prophet had wanted a lot of dirt on them before they broke their story. They'd been tailing them the entire vacation. There were pictures of them in Germany and Belgium. Not so many in Italy, probably because they'd been tired and taken it slower with the sightseeing. Obviously, someone at the Prophet was getting a fabulous vacation at their expense. "Perfect. Hey, don't worry about it," Scorpius said, hugging Albus.

"It's not the article…I just don't like being followed. Not after fifth year…" he muttered darkly.

Scorpius resisted the urge to flinch as he was hit with the memory. There'd been a sudden plot against the Potters in the boys' fifth year. Most annoyingly, Scorpius had been kept away from Albus for half the year, in case Lucius had been behind it. Even more annoying was the fact that they hadn't told the boys (and Lily) exactly what was going on, so Albus had some leftover paranoia.

"It's fine," Albus said, taking a deep breath. "I just…hate that we have no privacy. No worries," he said, smiling slightly. "Let's get down to breakfast so we can leave."

* * *

Harry stretched and quietly slipped out of the room. The rest of the house snoozed on as he went down to the kitchen to make breakfast. He tapped the coffee maker and pulled the mixing bowl and whisk out of the cabinet. With a wave of his wand, the ingredients for pancakes came out of their various hiding places and lined up one the counter. As the ingredients began to pour themselves into the bowl, Harry poured himself a cup of coffee and went to fetch the paper. He choked on the drink when he saw the headline. He darted back inside and up the stairs. Pausing only to put his coffee cup down, he pulled on his clothes and Disapparated.

* * *

"Draco…what is that?" Astoria mumbled.

"Someone's knocking," Draco said, sliding out of bed. "I'm coming!" he yelled as he walked down the hallway. "Potter? What the hell?"

"Did you see the paper today?"

"What are those leeches talking about no—"

"Not to bring up a sore subject, but does Lucius know?"

"He will now."

"They must've been pissed at me for telling them to keep their noses out of my kids' business."

"Sue their asses," Draco growled. "This is ridiculous. Some freak is stalking them. Enough of this."

"Feel like grabbing a cup of coffee and going to the ministry with me?"

"My pleasure."

* * *

"Isn't it beautiful?" Scorpius asked. "And best of all, we just found it. No one will know we're here."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Albus said. "Look over my left shoulder. In front of the gyro stand? Isn't that Ethan McDermott from the Prophet?"

"How the fu—"

"He's an animagus. Skeeter's dirty trick is permeating the media."

"And you know that…how?"

"When we were walking past the café this morning, there was a grey and black cat in the alley just before we got to the Apparation point. I didn't think much of it until we were getting our passports stamped. The guy who took mine said something about how I must be good with animals, because that cat had been hanging around all week and had just come out in the open when we got there. Those pictures in the Prophet? We saw a cat every single day. Watch." Albus turned toward the window, and sure enough McDermott slipped into the shadows of a nearby alley way.

"But he has to be registered! We checked when we started learning to do it, remember? McGonagall reminded us at least three times a day to keep our registration current."

"I'm sure he is, the public just hasn't caught on yet. Or they don't care."

Scorpius was quiet for a moment. Then he smiled and took Albus's hand, pulling him out of their room. He led them down the street, close to the alley where they'd seen McDermott disappear. Scorpius leaned against the wall. "See him?"

"Yeah. He just changed and grabbed his camera."

Quicker than anything a seventeen-year-old should do, Scorpius shot a stunning spell into the alley.

"Nice shot," Scorpius whispered, walking into small space. He kicked McDermott lightly in the arm before reviving him.

"Ow! You just assaulted me, Potter!"

"Not at all. I was simply checking to see if you were okay, without getting too close. After all, you've been stalking us for weeks. I didn't know if you were dangerous or not."

"Bullshit," McDermott grunted, getting to his feet. "Hey! That's my camera!"

Albus chucked it against the wall. "Oops."

"I could sue you for that!"

"Go right ahead," Scorpius said. "But you'll have to explain to the Wizengamot why you've been following Albus around after his father told you not to."

"Restraining order, would be the proper term," Albus said.

"Look," Scorpius smiled, his voice taking on the smooth quality it had when he was dealing with teachers. "It's just that we want our privacy. You tell us who told you where we were going and I'll buy you a new camera. Pending our return to London, of course."

"Found out through your granddad. I was bugging him about a benefit dinner he attended, and brought up your trip."

"Did you tell him Albus was with me?"

"I told him you were going together. It was before I knew you were dating though. I had a hunch after you two were all cozy at that café, planning your little trip. I found out when you were snogging in Belgium. I was following you to see if you were using charity money for your little vacation."

"You were trying to dig up a scandal, and this was all you could find," Albus summarized.

"Leave us alone," Scorpius told him.

Albus brushed past McDermott and took Scorpius's hand. As they left the alley, he said, "Well, that was productive. Think he'll leave us alone?"

"Nah. The next article in the Prophet will be about your anger management problems, I'm sure. Forget him, let's go get lunch."


	4. Chapter 4

_**LbN: No more dark stuff after this. I need to write something cheerful...**_

_**

* * *

**_

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Scorpius asked. They'd just Apparated into his driveway.

"Nah, I should get back to my place. Mum's probably compulsively checking her watch." Albus leaned in to kiss him. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright," Scorpius smiled. "Good night." He kissed Albus again and watched him Disapparate. As he walked into his house, he had an odd sensation that something was off. Quietly, he dropped his bags by the door and changed. In his dog form he sniffed around for a moment. Something was definitely off. He made his way up the stairs, quietly and quickly. He passed his rooms, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, changed back. Grabbing some pajamas and pulling them on, he made his way to his parents' wing of the house. "Dad? Mum?" he called out softly. The hallway was dark. He slipped in something and pulled out his wand. "What the hell? _Lumos maxima_." He gagged as he saw what he'd slipped in.

There was blood. Everywhere.

Silently, Scorpius sent a Patronus to Albus. With trembling hands, he pulled open the door to his parents' room. They were lying on the ground in front of the door, with gashed across their bodies.

"So glad you could join us," a voice to his left said.

"Grandfather, what—"

"Spare me. You know I did it. You know why I did it."

"No, actually." He bent down next to his mother, looking for signs of life.

"Stand up, Scorpius. They died about an hour ago. What we need to talk about, is you."

Scorpius stood, mind reeling. "Why?"

"Because the distinction between pureblood and halfblood and mudblood may be blurred for some, but it is not for me," Lucius said. "Here are the terms of your life as the sole heir to the Malfoy name: You will break all connections with Potter. Your last year will be spent at Durmstrang. You—"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

* * *

"So did you get to see everything you wanted?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. We didn't hit Italy as hard; we were tired. But we saw a lot."

A floating shape came down and landed on the table. The tiger said, "Al, I need you. Bring your dad. Hurry."

"Dad?"

"Where is he?"

"He's at his house," Albus said, grabbing his dad's wrist. "Got your wand?"

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

The door had been open. Albus stayed behind his father, walking quietly. When they came upon Scorpius's parent's wing, he stopped. "Dad?" he whispered.

"Stay here. Don't follow me." Harry sent a Patronus to the Ministry before peeking into the room. "Merlin."

"Lucius."

Harry turned quickly and disarmed the only surviving Malfoy. "Albus, go wait outside."

"What did he do?" Albus asked softly. He tried to get into farther into the hallway, but Harry stopped him. It was too late, though. "S-scorpius?"

"Go wait outside."

"The dissolution of a dynasty indeed," Lucius said. "His blood is on your hands."

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled.

Albus moved toward the doorway. He saw Draco and Astoria Malfoy lying in blood on the floor. Scorpius, however, wasn't bloody or mangled in any way. He was on the floor as well, a few feet from his parents. Albus knelt beside Scorpius. From a distance, he heard his dad calling his name. He vaguely registered a hand on his shoulder before passing out.

* * *

The funeral was small, but beautiful. Albus had made sure of that. "Can I be alone for a moment?" he asked his father, as people began to disperse.

"Of course," Harry said. "We'll wait for you over by the pond."

Albus waited until everyone was a good distance away before taking a picture out of his pocket. It was of him and Scorpius in front of the Parthenon.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Albus stood quickly and turned. "What do you want?" he asked Ethan McDermott. "This was a private funeral."

"Just wanted to offer my condolences. And to see if you had anything you'd like to say about…the incident." Another reporter and photographer came out of the woods behind him, ready with camera and notepad.

"Hey!"

They both turned and saw Harry coming back down the hill.

"Get the hell away from my son."

"We're just wondering if Albus has any statements on what happened."

"His boyfriend just died," Harry growled. "Have some decency."

"It could be cathartic for the lad," the photographer said.

"It's okay, Dad," Albus said quietly.

Harry looked at his son closely. He looked quite calm, but Harry could tell there was a storm brewing.

"You want to know what happened? Fine. Lucius Malfoy killed Scorpius and his parents after he found out we were dating. He found out because, even though my father had told you to stay away from me and my siblings, you ran an article in the Prophet about us. And I miss him. There's your statement."

Albus turned and walked back up the hill. He felt a hand on his shoulder as his father caught up with him, but he didn't look at him. He didn't look back, or ahead at the mourners. He kept his eyes on the trees as he walked away from the Scorpius's grave.

_**LbN: Thanks for reading! All of your reviews were much appreciated. Like I said, the next story is going to be long and a lot more cheerful. **_


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